Lewis Nash: First-call Technician and Teacher Too

No amount of conservatory or music school training can make up for being in a place where you can hear the great players play, or have an opportunity to play with them. There's no replacement for that.

It's a pleasure to watch or listen to drummer Lewis Nash. He has supplied supple and adventurous rhythms for an incredible array of jazz musicians over the years, blending in with most any situation. His versatility stands out.

But things could have been different.

It might have been that watching and listening to Nash would mean turning on the television nightly, around dinnertime. Or maybe at 11 p.m.

I could have been: Lewis Nash bringing you the latest news.

"I was a broadcast journalism major," says Nash, even though he studied drums in school. "I wanted to do what I saw Walter Cronkite and those guys doing, I thought at that time."

TV's loss music's gain.

Nash's talents over the years have graced everything from Dianna Krall recordings to Joe Lovano creations; in situations from Stan Getz to the Don Pull/George Adams quartet; from Betty Carter to Ron Carter; and with Sonnys Stitt and Rollins. He's played with Clark Terry, Milt Jackson, Roy Hargrove, the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall jazz organizations, and even Bette Mittler and Melissa Manchester. And on, and on and on.

He studied drums beginning in elementary school, and enjoyed playing during his years at Arizona State University. Yet broadcasting beckoned.

"Then one day one of the instructors pulled me aside and said, 'You're not a music major, are you?' And I said, 'no.' And he said, 'You're not looking to pursue a career in music?' And I said, 'no.' And he said, 'I think that would be a mistake.'

"So that was kind of a turning point," says Nash. "Because he made me begin to think about what he said... Maybe he hears something in my playing. There may be something to it, so maybe I should give this some thought."

Nash speaks with a deep, sonorous voice well suited for broadcasting. Talk to him at length and it's obvious his insight and intellect would also have served him well in journalism. But music lovers can be glad he embarked on a career as an artist.

That successful career also includes teaching, as a clinician and drum master in various programs across the country.

Nash recently completed a residency at the prestigious New England Conservatory in Boston, Mass. The program, now headed by Allan Chase, has existed for 30 years and enjoyed the help of people like founder Carl Atkins, Jackie Byard, Gunther Schuller, George Russell, Miroslav Vitous, Fred Hersch and many more. It's had students like Ricky Ford, Matthew Shipp and singer Dominique Eade, who now teaches there.

Teaching would-be musicians is important to Nash and something he enjoyed at the New England Conservatory. This fall, he joins a program at the Julliard School of Music in New York City.

Who knows? Maybe Nash the teacher might turn someone around like he was turned around at ASU.

The drummer says music education is important, noting that it fills a void in today's music scene. Older musicians graduated from jam sessions and big band tenures. Those opportunities don't exist much anymore, making schooling important.

Nash, who's 42, didn't grow up listening to jazz. He started studying drums at age 10, but the music of the day was R&B, gospel and blues. He didn't know very many jazz musicians and didn't know the history of the music.

In the 60s and 70s, popular music was not jazz. "My mother liked Muddy Waters and B.B. King, people like that," he says.

He played jazz in high school "stage bands," as they were called then, but "all I knew was the basic ride symbol beat. Beyond that I knew very little," says Nash.

In college, he started playing more jazz, and investigated the sounds, listening to albums that people recommended and looking into things.

"I began to hear the great recordings of Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, people like that," says Nash. Big bands too. He began examining the drumming of Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones and Max Roach. Then more modern types, like Tony Williams.

As his talent grew, so did his reputation, and soon he was a first-call drummer when hot jazz musicians came through Phoenix needing a rhythm section. People like Art Pepper and Sonny Stitt.

Nash was catapulted forward when the University of Betty Carter recruited him. Traveling with the legendary, but demanding, singer was a huge career boost and a great learning experience.

"Betty was very clear cut in what she wanted and didn't want," he says. "A true bandleader in that sense. She knew what she wanted. One of the great things about working with her is that I was relatively young, I was 21 or 22 when I first joined her. Here was an opportunity for me to travel around the world and to play music."

"I witnessed her hold an audience spellbound, many, many times. That's something to be said, to have an opportunity to experience that night after night."

Since then, Nash has played with a roster of jazz stars, including 10 years with pianist Tommy Flanagan. His tastes are diverse and his ability to adapt is a key.

That adaptability wasn't all learned in the drum practice room.

"I'd like to think that ability to do that is carried over from how I interact with people in general in life. That is, that I always try to find a way to find the compatible element with our different personalities. And that applies musically as well," he says. "With all the different leaders I've worked with, there's so many different viewpoints of the music and how it should be approached. Every leader has a different way of doing things. The key is to be able to adapt to all these various approaches and situations without totally losing your own individuality.

"I don't know how to tell anyone to do that, but that's really what's happening. You're still able to express your own creative ideas without impeding that particular leader, or whoever's employing you, or whose ever music you're playing. You're not impeding their voice from being heard. You're actually enhancing it by being yourself. That's the goal."

Between being a first-call drummer for recordings, touring with a variety of musicians, club dates, his own music, festivals and teaching, Nash is not hurting for work.

"There's quite a circuit of things going on and there's enough work. I can only speak for myself. It's not a struggle for me. It's a struggle to maintain a playing level, a high level of musicianship. You have to practice and you have to stay on top of things. You can't just rest on your laurels. I've been pretty fortunate."

He thinks for a moment before choosing a highlight in a career that, at his age, still has miles and miles to go.

"I've had the opportunity to play with some of the greatest piano players in jazz. And the piano trio is a format I really enjoy because first of all, when there's no horn player standing up there in front of the trio, it seems to have a visual balance, where the audience isn't focusing on this one person who's standing up there with the horn. Secondly, you're able to really see and hear the level of contribution of each player.

"Therefore, I guess you could say maybe it's more democratic. It's clear that each player has an important role, it's not just a bassist and drummer accompanying a pianist. We're all contributing to this complete musical statement," he says.

"The great piano players that I've played with in a trio situation have probably been one of the biggest highlights of my career. And that would include Tommy Flanagan, because I spent 10 years with him; Hank Jones; John Lewis, Oscar Peterson. That, to me, is really one of the most fulfilling aspects of my career: having played the piano trio with so many great, great pianists in the history of jazz."

Nash is optimistic about the future of jazz and took time to share thoughts on education with All About Jazz:

All About Jazz (AAJ): How did you get involved with the New England Conservatory program? You'd been involved in education before?

Lewis Nash (LN): I've done a number of seminars and residencies at several different colleges and conservatories. Once you begin to do that and the word spreads that you are good at doing that, then that opens a lot of other doors. It helps to know the people who are involved in the program and I do know some folks that are involved over there.

I grew up listening to my father's jazz records and listening to the radio. My dad was a musician for many years as a vocalist, bassist and drummer. His two uncles played in the Symphony of Reggio Calabria back in Italy

I grew up listening to my father's jazz records and listening to the radio. My dad was a musician for many years as a vocalist, bassist and drummer. His two uncles played in the Symphony of Reggio Calabria back in Italy. So music and jazz specifically have been a part of me since I was born. I love and perform in all styles of music from around the world. Improvisation in jazz is what drew me in, and still does as well as other genres that feature improvisation. A group of great musicians expressing themselves as one is the hallmark of great jazz and in fact all great music.